Page 45 of See You at the Sunset

“You must think a woman in therapy is messy,” she added, saying anything to break the silence.

It was then that he reacted. He turned his head toward her, lifted his hand, and placed it softly on her cheek. “I don’t think you’re messy.” He held her gaze. She wanted to look away. She didn’t want words that would make excuses for the type of woman she was. She knew she was a mess. “No.” The one word from his lips spoken as law. “I think you’re... vibrant. Enchanting. Bold. It’s like you don’t realize something is tasteless until seasoning is added, and then your eyes are opened and you know you’ll never be the same. You can never go back to bland.”

She held her breath, uncertain how to respond. Jia had rarely heard words like those before, and definitely not describing her. They felt like they carried more weight, these old-timey words here in this old-timey place, spoken about her. No one otherthan Mimi had ever made her feel like she made their space better.

“And I didn’t realize until now how sexy that could be,” Henry admitted.

Jia leaned into his hand and closed her eyes. She took in a deep breath, taking this moment in. When she opened her eyes she found Henry staring at her lips and then quickly looked away. He pulled his hand back from her cheek, and Jia immediately missed its steadying touch.

“Yeah, so my parents think I just need to relax, smoke some weed, go find myself,” he said, a sad chuckle following.

“Mine think I need to focus and try harder. Oh, and move to Florida, apparently,” she said.

They both dropped their heads and laughed.

“Is that why Dennis means so much to you?”

“He basically had to raise me when my parents were off exploring the world. They would just dump me at my grandparents’ house without any notice of when and for how long. It was easier when my grandmother was alive. But we lost her to cancer when I was in high school, and Dennis needed time to grieve. So I figured out a way to take care of myself as much as I could. I’ve basically been on my own since I was sixteen.”

Jia felt a pang in her chest thinking of young Henry on his own. No wonder he was so strict on rules and boundaries. He needed them to survive. “That had to have been hard.”

“What about you? Mimi?” he asked.

“She’s my biggest cheerleader, wants me to live my best life.” Jia smiled thinking of her grandmother. “I’m kind of on the other extreme—I’m twenty-seven and my parents haven’t left me alone a day in my life. Shit, I didn’t mean it like that.” She didn’t want him to think she was downplaying his pain or struggle.

“No, no. I can see how that would be super difficult and frustrating. I don’t think either of us had it easier than the other.”

Jia nodded. “They just... worry about me. But I wish, well, I wish they’d let me live my own life. Let me breathe...” She let out a deep breath as if needing the physical manifestation of what she was hoping for. “Guess we’re both the classic case ofOur parents ruined us.” Jia said it as a joke, but it hurt nonetheless.

“I don’t think you’re ruined at all.”

Jia could feel Henry’s eyes on her. Instead of turning to meet them, she closed hers, trying to stop the emotions she was feeling. She liked him. She liked him a lot.

“They’re good people, everyone here at Sunset Hills. I’m definitely gonna have to come back and visit more often,” Henry said.

“I hope you do,” Jia said. Why it mattered so much to her, she wasn’t sure. Jia had the ability to love deep and love wide. Maybe that was why she was so careful not to get too attached. There was too much change that always happened in her life. Commitment caused upheaval. It was best to just enjoy the moment and the ones in it and then move on. She thought of people like she thought of seasons: She enjoyed them while they were there, but ultimately, they came and served a purpose and then left, for someone new to take their place.

Jia loved in em dashes and ellipses... with possibilities. But she ended every relationship with a period. Final. On to the next.

This curiosity to know more about Henry, to spend more time with him, to wonder when she’d see him next, it wasn’t like her. And that scared her.

But it didn’t matter. Because Jia was becoming more certain that New York was not where she wanted to be anymore. And she didn’t get the sense Henry felt the same way.

Plus they were two very different people. Henry was a successful, powerful lawyer. His life was on the rise. Jia was unemployed, unhoused, with no prospects. They were going in opposite directions.

“I should get inside before Mimi sends the search party,” Jia said. She needed to stop whatever was happening here.

“Yeah, me too.” Henry stood up and reached down, offering his hand to help Jia.

She took the offer and let him pull her to her feet. She raised her eyes to meet his, not realizing how close they were standing to each other.

Henry looked down at her, an intensity in his gaze that took her breath away. Jia leaned closer as he moved toward her. He let go of her hand and wrapped his around her waist. Jia put both her hands on his chest as Henry drew her in against him. His face lowered to hers. She lifted her chin as his lips came to meet hers for a kiss.

So much for stopping anything.

Jia freed her arms and wrapped them around his neck. She rose to her toes and pulled him down closer to her. Henry’s tongue pushed into her mouth, and she tilted her head so he could get even deeper.

Henry’s hands moved to her ass, and he squeezed. Jia let out a gasp. “Fuck,” he said.